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CCSP Practice Question: A cloud customer is migrating a legacy…
A cloud customer is migrating a legacy application to a cloud platform. The application currently runs on physical servers and uses local storage. The migration plan involves rehosting the application on virtual machines (VMs) in the cloud. The security team wants to ensure that the VMs are properly hardened before deployment. During the migration testing, the team discovers that the base image used for the VMs contains several unnecessary services and default credentials. The team is concerned that these vulnerabilities could be exploited. The cloud provider offers a shared responsibility model where the customer is responsible for securing the OS. Which of the following is the BEST course of action to address this issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose Option D (manual patching after deployment) because it seems practical, but they overlook that this approach leaves VMs vulnerable during the initial boot and configuration phase, whereas pre-hardening the image eliminates that risk entirely.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a custom golden image with necessary hardening and approved software only
Creating a custom golden image allows the customer to enforce a hardened baseline that removes unnecessary services, disables default credentials, and includes only approved software before any VM is deployed. This aligns with the shared responsibility model, where the customer controls OS-level security, and prevents vulnerabilities from ever reaching production. Pre-hardening the image is more secure and efficient than fixing issues post-deployment, as it eliminates the window of exposure during initial boot and configuration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy the VMs and run vulnerability scans to identify and fix issues after deployment
Why it's wrong here
Scanning after deployment detects the unnecessary services and default credentials only once the VMs are already running and exploitable, contradicting the requirement to harden before deployment. Scanning is tempting because it validates an image, but it belongs in the image pipeline, not on live rehosted instances.
- ✗
Ask the cloud provider to provide a hardened OS image
Why it's wrong here
Under the shared responsibility model the customer secures the guest OS, so the provider supplies the base image but does not harden it to your baseline; requesting one cedes a duty you retain. Provider-hardened images exist, but they are for meeting the provider's own compliance, not your application's configuration.
- ✓
Create a custom golden image with necessary hardening and approved software only
Why this is correct
Under the shared responsibility model the customer hardens the guest OS, so remediating the base image itself is required. Building a golden image with unnecessary services removed and default credentials eliminated fixes the vulnerability at source, rather than patching each deployed VM.
- ✗
Deploy the VMs and manually apply security patches and remove services after deployment
Why it's wrong here
Patching and removing services after deployment leaves the VMs exposed during the window before remediation, and rehosted instances may already be reachable. Building a hardened image before deployment is what the scenario demands. Post-deployment remediation is tempting because it feels incremental, but it inverts the required order.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CCSP exam.